Unified Theory | River North Brewery

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Flavor has that now familiar oaked vanilla character. It still seems a little under-attenuated with a lingering sweetness but I think it works better in an oaked beer. Sweet, floral, herbal, and spicy, in that order.

When choosing a bomber, aesthetics play a certain role even though it's the contents that are what's truly important... When I came across River North's selection, the bottles left much to the imagination, but when labeled "Oak-Aged Imperial Wit Ale," it's not something I'm quick to pass up... It pours light, with a hazy goldenrod color, with a 2 inch rocky head that dissipates somewhat quickly, leaving minimal lacing but a nice retentive little cap... A wheaty malt aroma shows up overlaying a little funk, and a touch of orange zest sweetness here and there, but it does seem a little bit aromatically challenged... Upon tasting, it's moderately light on the palate, similar to what one would expect out of saison, just with less carbonation... The oaky taste takes over midway through, bringing with it a spicy floral bouquet with cinnamon a prominent, but extremely pleasant note... A clean, crisp finish, with lingering spice notes and just a hint of bitterness to balance it out, every sip is a refreshing one... This brew has many fine components all harmonizing nicely to play a solid role, completing this well crafted ale as a whole... The sweetness is well balanced by the oak, and no one element overpowers another in its' quest for perfect unison... Definitely not what I expected, but I'm very pleased with the ale quickly diminishing from my glass!! Another good brew - Cheers!!

Mouthfeel: low end of a medium bodied beer with moderate carbonation. A touch of syrup in the mouthfeel. No ABV is even hinted at; even when this beer clock in at 8.5%!

Overall: River North brewery is really doing some inventive and creative beers. A fairly new brewery that not many people have heard of or know about. I like what they are doing and how brave they are tring some really advanced beer right out of the gates. I cant say I that I have ever heard of an oaked witbier before, much less tried one until now. Really cool beer, its worth a try! BA's give this new brewery a shot. They make good beer!

Big, big thanks to StonedTrippin for supplying this wildly unique offering. We crack the top and pour a brew of glowing pale straw coloring into our Founders snifters, per the bottle’s suggestion. It holds a one and half finger tall head of foamy off white bubbles, showing decent retention. Specks of lacing are left around the glass as it goes. A mild haze is noted, with no sediment to be found. Both come out fully with the dregs of the bottle. Carbonation appears to be light. The nose is very much to style, with big wheaty malts, bright coriander and black pepper spiciness, orange rind bitterness, and light plastic and medicinal phenols. Mixing in are notes of white wine grape, chardonnay woodiness, coconut husk, lemon juiciness, golden delicious apples, licorice, drying muskiness, and sweaty saltiness. With warmth comes a light smoky ham quality, with wood more like chicory rather than oak. Our first impression is that the flavoring is much more hearty than would be suggested by the nose, great depth to the aging, and welcomed balancing sweetness. As we sip, the taste opens with surprisingly warm woodiness, biting soapy hoppiness, spicy booze, fresh orange and lemon flesh, soured lactics, white grape, red apple sugars, and sweet vegetal and mossy greens. Pushing to the peak is bittered wheat, spicy clove, coriander, parsnip rind, lemon zest, light toasty pales, strawberry fruitiness, and straight orange fruitiness. The finishing wash comes with bright vanilla woodiness, warming ethanol, light grassy hoppiness, black peppercorn spiciness, dirty wheat, clay-heavy water, white grape sugars, chalked walnut, faint soapy hops, and continued citric juiciness. The aftertaste breathes of grassy hops, brass, drying wheat, spicy black pepper, green grassiness, soft smokiness, booziness, sweat, dust, and old oakiness. The body is light to medium, but with a good syrupy quality, while carbonation is on the lighter side. Each sip gives nice slurp, smack, and pop, with decent cream and frothiness. The mouth is thickly coated at first, but gives way to a quick and pervasive astringent chalkiness across the hard palate. The abv is appropriate, and the beer sips slowly, but drinks well.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this beer was its flavoring. Compared to the nose, the buds got a much better dose of the oak-agedness, adding warmth, smoothness, robustness, depth, and general drinkability. The aroma did come out more with warmth, giving more sweetness than expected for the style, with more punch all around. The feel was equally contributory, giving a nice syrupy smack to an otherwise light and fluffy sip. This beer represents an interesting, new idea, and we believe that they executed it well, leaving the drinker both happy and contemplative. Hopefully StoneTrippin will be able to grace us with more beers from River North in the future.